Virgins dressed in white dance around the Maypole as a May Day tradition
May Day is a celebration of Spring, and everything that comes with that such as fertility and birth, it is a day of political protests, it is a neopagen festival, and a day for organized labor.
ORIGINS:
with a connection to an ancient pagan ritual May Daydates back to the days before the birth of Christ
Druids
to them May 1 was the second most important
Bel the Celtic God of the sun and fire
holiday of the year for it divided there year in half and it was the day that the festival of Beltane was held
Beltane was named after the Bel, the Celtic god of the sun
their May Day custom would be the lighting of the new fire and it was one of those ancient new year rites performed throughout the world
cattle would be driven through the fire to purify them
men and their lovers would pass through the smoke for seeing good luck
Romans
early may was a extremely popular feast time for the Romans
Flora the Roman goddess of flowers.
it was committed principally to the worship of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers
this was a five day celebration that came to be known as Floralia
it usually lasted from April 28 to May 2
when the Romans invaded the British Isles the customs and rituals of this Floralia gradually were combined with those of the Beltane
the combining of these two festivals to make a new one is similar to the way that the two German Leauges of Futball joined together to form the Bundesliga
Development/ Puritans
Though May Dayobservance was discouraged during the Puritans it was revived when they lost power in England though it lost much of its robust force
As time went on it became regarded more as a day of joy and merriment for children, rather than a day of observing ancient fertility rights that it had used to be
Just as the Puritans saw the Maypole as a vulgar image and the behavior of people on May Day as horrific, Savonarola saw Florence in the same light during the high Renaissance
Cartoons for the CauseFor several years during the reign of the Puritains, Crane produced many cartoons in The Clarion which were socialist propaganda for the festival of May Day. Traditions:
Maypole
during the middle ages every English village had its own maypole
when the maypole was brought from the woods it was a great occasion accompanied with wild and abandoned merrymaking and celebration
possessing the largest maypole became a symbol a dominant town and towns began to compete with each other for the right to say they had erected the largest tree as their maypole
in smaller towns maypoles were erected for the day only but in London and larger towns they were erected permanently
In 1644 the maypole tradition and everything that came with that suffered a major setback when the Puritans and the Long Parliament stopped it for a couple of decades
the Puritans saw the maypole as a vulgar image and sought to purify such festivals from their sexual connotations
despite their efforts many of May Day's traditions have still survived
Other Associations
wild and abandoned merrymaking
glorification of fertility
celebration of the bringing of spring
a parallel of Labor Day in many countries
international working class holiday
a chance to start anew
celebrations and dancing much like any festival
May Dayand Guy Fawkes Day are two influential festivals held in England
Modern Day:
as May Dayspread to the United States it became to be interpreted as what is now commonly referred to as Labor Day. This became accepted in many countries
the U.S. changed Europe's outlook on this certain holiday, but it also changed the face of Europe with the development of Basketball
this tradition spread throughout the modern world and is now present in many countries today
labor day is a national legal holiday that is over 100 years old
over the years, it has evolved from a purely labor union celebration which was May Day to a general "last fling of summer" festival
MAY DAY
May Day is a celebration of Spring, and everything that comes with that such as fertility and birth, it is a day of political protests, it is a neopagen festival, and a day for organized labor.
ORIGINS:
Child Labor during the Industrial Revolution
Cartoons for the CauseFor several years during the reign of the Puritains, Crane produced many cartoons in The Clarion which were socialist propaganda for the festival of May Day.
Traditions:
- Maypole
- during the middle ages every English village had its own maypole
- when the maypole was brought from the woods it was a great occasion accompanied with wild and abandoned merrymaking and celebration
- possessing the largest maypole became a symbol a dominant town and towns began to compete with each other for the right to say they had erected the largest tree as their maypole
- in smaller towns maypoles were erected for the day only but in London and larger towns they were erected permanently
- In 1644 the maypole tradition and everything that came with that suffered a major setback when the Puritans and the Long Parliament stopped it for a couple of decades
- the Puritans saw the maypole as a vulgar image and sought to purify such fe
stivals from their sexual connotations - despite their efforts many of May Day's traditions have still survived
- Other Associations
- wild and abandoned merrymaking
- glorification of fertility
- celebration of the bringing of spring
- a parallel of Labor Day in many countries
- international working class holiday
- a chance to start anew
- celebrations and dancing much like any festival
- May Day and Guy Fawkes Day are two influential festivals held in England
Modern Day:Sources: